During the Blazers' offday Tuesday in Los Angeles, inseparable teammates Rudy Fernandez and Sergio Rodriguez went shopping. They both took a liking to a black, zip-up sweater. So they each bought the same sweater.

That night, Fernandez wore his sweater out with Rodriguez.

So naturally, Rodriguez felt he was safe in wearing his new sweater to Wednesday's game.

There was one problem: When he boarded the team bus, he saw Fernandez was pulling a back-to-back with his own sweater.

Naturally, the team was relentless in their heckling. When I got in the locker room, Joel Przybilla was quick to call me over to the Spainards' lockers, which happened to be next to each other.

"Look at this,'' Przybilla said, pulling both sweaters out of the lockers. "Exactly the same. These two ...''

Rudy did not like any of the taunting, and was not very playful when I tried to kid him about it.

Hey, at least I didn't tell Rudy I was "underwhelmed" by his wardrobe.

At any rate, I think it's going to be fun to watch these two Spaniards interact. They are close, and they seem to bring the best out of each other. Sergio, for one, seems really at ease and happy this season, and I think much of it is due to Rudy's presence.